


What Could Have Been (Two)

by secondalto



Series: Written in Flesh and Blood [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Fluff, Multi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 14:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1944837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secondalto/pseuds/secondalto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More soul marks the Avengers didn't get</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Could Have Been (Two)

**Author's Note:**

> for Rainne who asked for certain pairings when I sent her the first part. She also called me BRILLIANT for the last pairing.

When Steve wakes up in the twenty-first century, he realizes that the soul mark has changed and shifted. Instead of getting a name, you get a symbol. It’s something that represents the essence of your soul mate. Steve finds a little red spider on his left shoulder. Whoever his soul mate is, they must be interesting. It’s not too long after he’s recruited by Fury that he meets Natasha Romanov.

They don’t get to work together much at first. Then comes the battle with the Chitauri. He instantly admires Tasha’s cunning and intellect. She intrigues him. When she runs into him in the gym two months later, she catches sight of his mark and grins. He won’t find out why until almost two years later. When she kisses him as distraction, he’s both surprised and intrigued. Later at Sam’s house, he watches as she pulls her hair up and sees her mark: an American flag on the back of her neck.

He and Tasha circle around each other as he goes to find Bucky. They practice his kissing. When Bucky is found they begin their relationship in earnest. They use a surrogate to have kids. Steve is the perfect stay at home dad while Tasha goes to work for Pepper again at Stark Enterprises.

*~*~*~*~*

Darcy thinks a bird is a lame symbol to get. It’s very detailed, feathers and beak and all that, but still lame. It’s not until she’s in college that someone points out it’s a falcon. So her soul mate is either into hunting or is really fierce.

When she gets to New York, Darcy can’t believe she’s living with all of the Avengers. When Steve and Tasha get together her inner nerd goes crazy. The paper she could write about the All American Icon and the Russian ex-KGB agent would certainly be thesis-worthy. But she’s too busy scientist wrangling.

Then Steve introduces her to Sam. And she finds out how literal her symbol is. Way to go universe. He has a bear. Darcy laughs because that’s exactly how she is around those she loves. She’s fiercely protective like a mama bear. They have a quick sass filled courtship. When they get married, they soon have a passel of tiny Lewis-Wilsons.

*~*~*~*~*

Clint and Phil work together for years before they discover they are soul mates. Clint always wonders why his mark is something that many people could have. It is a stylized version of the SHIELD logo.Because of this he marries Bobbi. She has a feather, so they both think they have found the mate they are looking for.But it turns out they are both wrong and they leave the marriage without regrets.

Phil’s mark is an eye that’s surrounded by wings. Clint does his best not to groan. Despite both being in the line of fire and working a lot, they quickly grow to love each other. They survive the Battle of New York, but not without scars. Its hard work but they make it through. They agree that kids don’t fit into the life they have. But they enjoy playing uncles to the rest of the Avengers’ broods.

*~*~*~*~*

Jane’s mark is a fertility goddess. She’s not really sure how to interpret it and what it means about her soul mate. She decides to throw herself into her work instead. Theorizing about Einstein-Rosen bridges is one thing, actually finding one is another. Jane is quite surprised to find out that this open one has brought her soul mate.

Thor Odinson has a scattering of stars across his pectorals. Asgardians cherish marks because few of their race receive them. Their lore tells that those who receive a mark are destined for great loves and great lives. He has spent the equivalent of a Midgardian lifetime trying to find out what his means.

When the two of them finally make their way to Asgard, they are greeted with pomp and feasting that never seem to end. Jane is fascinated by their technology, surrounded by many of her theories come to life. Their reign ushers in an unprecedented age of peace for all the Nine Realms. A few of their children go back to Midgard and become some of that realm’s greatest heroes.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Tony has never been bothered by the fact that his mark is a human hand, curled into a fist. He is concerned that it’s a bright shade of green. When Coulson brings him the files on the people being considered for the Avengers, Tony can’t help but perk up when he sees Bruce Banner. The other man’s alter ego is a giant green rage monster. So Tony’s found his soul mate. When they can speak science to each other without benefit of translation, Tony is in heaven.

Bruce’s mark is a perfect replica of the arc reactor in Tony’s chest. He seems reluctant to even contemplate a relationship. But when Hulk saves Tony after his fall from the portal, he has a change of heart. Their relationship consists of late night lab binges, subscriptions to all the science magazines, funding another series of Cosmos, and the best angry sex ever.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pepper secretly loves the bright red star that adorns her collar bone. Many times she has to cover it when she is out a galas for Stark Enterprises. She never likes doing it, but sometimes a soul mark can lead to questions she doesn’t want to answer. Many in the press assume she and Tony are mates, but she knows what his mark is and they aren’t. Maybe in a different universe… but she loves him in a different way.

When she sees footage of Steve fighting the man JARVIS would come to identify as the Winter Soldier, Pepper can’t look away from the star on the metal of his left arm. She spends the rest of the night idly running her fingers over her mark. Steve later identifies the man as his long-thought-dead best friend, Bucky. Pepper can’t help but laugh at the irony of it.

It will take a year for Steve to find Bucky. And yet another two before he fully comes back to himself, back to some semblance of the man he used to be. Pepper, who is never usually shy about facing a challenge takes a few months to work up the nerve to meet Bucky. When she does, he comments on her shoes, pushing up his sleeve to show her a tiny blue heel on the inside of his right elbow. Their courtship is slow and sweet. Tony gives Pepper away at the wedding. Bucky is the best father and they are happy in their life.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want more Bucky/Pepper, they now have their own fic [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3554276)


End file.
